unfinished glory

Chapter 236 The sixth battle

The Grizzlies won a key battle at the Staples Center by accident, which made the current situation suddenly subtle.

In the minds of many people, the strength of the Lakers is higher than that of the Grizzlies, especially in the playoffs, and their experience will help them even more.

If the Lakers win the Tianxiashan battle, it can be said that one foot has stepped into the gate of the finals.On the contrary, if the Grizzlies win, it is hard to say which one will win.

Today, the players of the two teams are all expressionless. There is no need for the coaches to emphasize that everyone knows the importance of this game.

For the Lakers, this is a battle of life and death, and the Grizzlies have a chance to reach the finals.Even a player like Big Ben, who has experienced big scenes, will be a little nervous and excited.

With this emotion, the Grizzlies suppressed the Lakers in the first quarter.The inside twin towers feel that today's ball is very obedient, shooting and passing, playing wherever they point.

Facing the defense of Turiaf or Odom, Gasol used his height and wingspan to the extreme, holding high and hitting high, frequently scoring goals or completing assists.In the future, Kobe even needs to come to help defend before he restrains himself.

And Gasol didn't give up much. Facing Yao Ming's defense, he could score with both shots and hooks.

The opponent's outburst is a bit uncomfortable for the Lakers.In the team, only Yao Ming's offense is normal, and the shooting percentage of other players is very low.Including Kobe, he only hit 4 ball in 1 shots.

The Lakers trailed by 9 points in the first quarter, which wasn't a big difference, but Phil Jackson was not only worried about being behind, but that the team was suppressed by the Grizzlies in terms of momentum.

The current Lakers play a bit awkwardly, relying on the stars to score goals, and the Grizzlies are all soldiers today.Their big weapon, Li Chongxiao, only attacked three times, apparently gathering strength for the second half.

Halfway through the second quarter, the situation on the field has not changed much, and the Lakers even trailed by 4 points.At this time, Phil Jackson knew that he couldn't go on like this, and he had to make a change.

For the Lakers, it is too simple to change tactics or the situation on the court. It only needs one trick, and that is to give the ball to Kobe.

The Lakers have always maintained a good record in recent years because they have two superstars.Use Yao Ming to guarantee the lower limit, and use Kobe to raise the upper limit.

Seeing that Kobe personally led a wave of offense and successfully narrowed the point difference to 5 points, Zen master sat firmly with the help, thinking happily that Mike Brown's tactics are really useful, giving the ball to the super giants in the team , he will move by himself.

Seeing that the opponent recovered so many points, the Grizzlies players on the field became a little impatient. The ball that Gasol passed to Gasol was actually too big and flew out of the baseline.

Fortunately, in the offensive round of the Lakers, Odom missed a shot.Gasol got the rebound, passed it to Conley and ran to the frontcourt quickly, pretending to be about to score quickly.

When he was still in the backcourt, Li Chongxiao asked Conley to pass the ball, led it up the frontcourt by himself, and then pressed his palm towards Carlisle, telling the opponent to be calm and not waste a timeout.

He made a gesture to his teammates, indicating that the ball should be played by himself.Battier sank to the bottom, and Conley pulled aside in cooperation. Gasol wanted to come over to pick and roll, but Li Chongxiao signaled that he didn't need it.

Seeing this scene, Artest focused on the current goal and hit the opponent's morale.

Li Chongxiao dribbled the ball unhurriedly at the top of the arc, looking for the opponent's flaws.I have to say that Artest is worthy of being the best defensive player. Although his physical fitness has declined, he cannot guarantee that he will be very focused throughout the game, but once he gets serious, he can still do it in one or two rounds. Watertight.

In a basketball game, from the point of view of individual players' offense and defense alone, it is not as difficult to distinguish the low number as the battle between spear and shield.The defense is always on the passive side, no matter how powerful it is, it will be broken by the offense.

A player who can't break through the opponent's single defense is not because the opponent is too strong, but because he is not good enough.As a player who can compete for the strongest offensive perimeter in history, Li Chongxiao will also be guarded sometimes, but once he gets serious, there is no one who can defend him one-on-one.

Artest's defense seems to be impeccable, but in Li Chongxiao's eyes, there are several ways to attack, such as dry pull, such as post-up singles.

Li Chongxiao chose a method with a high scoring success rate but relatively high, breaking through.The fancy dribble didn't sway the space, but Li Chongxiao didn't count on it either. After finding the rhythm, he directly used his speed to pass his opponent and only inserted inside.

Artest chased after him, Yao Ming was in front of him, but Li Chongxiao was already prepared, he slowed down a little, took one step to the right, one step to the left, swayed past the opponent with a European step, and made a layup with his left hand.

With Ginobili for four years, Li Chongxiao also learned a lot of skills.

This goal helped the team stabilize the situation, and the teammates on the field gradually calmed down.

The Lakers are not a team that can't afford to be hit, and one or two offenses cannot kill them.

As one of the best outside pass inside players, Kobe also began to frequently break through and send the ball to Yao Ming.The latter also lived up to expectations, scoring consecutive goals and biting the score.

The situation on the field calmed down, and the Grizzlies entered the locker room with a 5-point lead.

……

At the beginning of the second half, Zen master apparently read scriptures to the Lakers players. Kobe and Yao Ming scored two goals, narrowing the point difference to 1 point.

After Li Chongxiao fought back, they could always close or equalize the score.

This resilience lasted the entire quarter, and to the dismay of the Lakers, they never had a way to overtake the score.

After Kobe scored another two points, leaving the Lakers behind by only one point, the Grizzlies soon scored two goals in a row, and the point difference became five points again.

This made the mentality of the Lakers players a little bit broken. In the next fourth quarter, they played poorly in the first few rounds, and the point difference was further expanded to 11 points.

A timeout calmed them down a bit, but it didn't help the trailing points. Halfway through the third quarter, the Lakers were still 10 points behind their opponents.

This score is a relatively large number for these two teams. You must know that after the first five games, the maximum difference between the two sides is only 9 points.

The Lakers are obviously aware of the seriousness of the situation, and everyone was a little silent during the timeout.Before Phil Jackson said anything, Kobe took the initiative to stand up and told everyone to give him the ball and he would bring everyone victory.

After Yao Ming entered the team, the strength of the Lakers leapt to the top of the league. Kobe never said similar words again, almost making people forget his crazy years.

Yao Ming's scoring can be said to be completely within the plan of the Grizzlies, and the only thing the Lakers can trust now is Kobe.

After playing, the Grizzlies also knew that the Lakers were desperate, and Li Chongxiao stood in front of Kobe.

Kobe really wanted to make a three-pointer on Li Chongxiao's head, but he knew that now was not the time to be willful, and he had to maintain the success rate.

He called Yao Ming to come over for the pick-and-roll, and then went small to big, passed Gasol, and settled the battle with a mid-range shot.

Then after double-teaming Li Chongxiao, Kobe broke through and scored again, assisting Yao Ming to score a 2+1.

5 points will not make the Grizzlies nervous, and then Li Chongxiao also scored a goal, which relieved the team.

Then Kobe made 3 of 2 shots again, chasing the point difference to 1 point.

Just when Li Chongxiao was about to step up to save the team again, the Lakers directly got into a three-man double-team, and he couldn't pass the ball out.

Gasol received the ball and it was an unguarded open spot.Although it was a bit far away, he shot without hesitation, but the goal was missed!

The rebound was picked up by Yao Ming, a long pass to the frontcourt, Odom assisted Kobe for a layup, and the Lakers overtook the score.

After the timeout, the Lakers still adopted a three-person double-team tactic, and Li Chongxiao made another pass to Gasol.

This time Yao Ming jumped out, Gasol hit the ground and was about to pass to Gasol Jr., but Artest shot out diagonally and broke the ball.

Back in the Lakers half, Yao Ming succeeded in singles against Gasol, and it was the Lakers' turn to lead by 3 points.

This made the Grizzlies players panic, Li Chongxiao was wantonly double-teamed, Battier missed a three-pointer from the corner, and Conley missed a layup, which became a vicious circle.

Li Chongxiao only scored one of the two ultra-long three-pointers like a gamble, which was a bit of dignity for the Grizzlies, and they did not lose more than 10 points.

In the sixth game of the Western Conference Finals, the Grizzlies also lost at home, and the balance of victory was tilted towards the Lakers.

(End of this chapter)